I
doubt if there’s a more experienced
Lutosławski conductor around today
than Antoni Wit. Hot on the heels of
his very well received complete edition
for Naxos, he’s obviously felt the need
to revisit these two works, using another
crack Polish orchestra and young
soloist. Whether they improve on his
Naxos performances is open to question
but there is no doubt as to the power
and persuasive qualities on offer here.
The Concerto for
Orchestra is
justly Lutosławski’s most popular
orchestral work and the finest
example in the genre outside Bartók’s.
I have always stood by the composer’s
own rendition, fast and powerfully raw
but a little scrappily played and brightly
recorded. It now forms part of an indispensable
collection of the composer conducting
some of his major works on an EMI Forte
Double pack - great value. However,
it does benefit from modern digital
sound, which it gets on excellent discs
from Tortelier (Chandos) and Barenboim
(Erato). This Dux recording from Poland
is very good, aside from what appears
to be a touch of false highlighting
of certain instruments, especially piano
and some percussion. The opening Intrada
has great weight and presence, the pounding
rhythm grabbing the attention immediately.
The bold and vivid colours are vividly
realized by Wit, who must have conducted
this work more than most. He is a fraction
slower than the composer, but this only
helps to build the cumulative tension.
The mercurial half-lights of the central
Capriccio notturno are well done; here,
Wit is faster
than Lutosławski and his orchestra
is more virtuosic, capturing every twist
and turn in the music. The long finale,
structured as Passacaglia, Toccata e
Corale, is the most difficult to bring
off. Wit is actually more faithful to
the score’s dynamics than the
composer in places - the tricky relationship
of woodwind to brass at 3’51 is a good
case in point. All in all, a very convincing
and powerful performance of a masterly
score.
The Cello Concerto
is equally colourful and also got
an excellent outing on the Naxos cycle.
Here, the young Polish cellist Rafal
Kwiatkowski is very much on top of the
work, grading the aleatoric elements
of the long opening solo with just the
right degree of improvisatory freedom
and structural clarity. Wit shapes the
blazing brass interjections that follow
with power and force rather than vulgarity,
and this attention to detail without
losing sight of the bigger picture really
is at the heart of this excellent interpretation.
Of course, the composer again recorded
this work with the formidable dedicatee,
Rostropovich, but whatever authority
that has is offset by a rather harsh
recording and forward balance of the
soloist.
I don’t think this
disc suffers by comparison to any other,
including the composer, on artistic
or audio grounds, but it is the duty
of reviewers to point out that it is
full price – that is, more than double
the cost of Wit’s own Naxos discs. It
is also not as well filled at only 55
minutes. That said, this is music-making
of a very high order and if you like
the coupling, don’t hesitate.
Tony Haywood
Rafal Kwiatkowski (cello) 
